Anchorhead

rchdggr said:

The lone stormtrooper does look off. He seems nervous and agitated. Not typical stormtrooper behavior. He doesn't seem to be just like every other stormtrooper. It's as if he has more personality and emotion to him.. See where i'm going with this?

 Uumm, dude...you're ruining all the pre-hate.  ;-)

Newest toys at NYC Comic Con yesterday,  Looks like BB-8 is a little more dangerous than we may have suspected.

danny_boy said:

Super 8 is a Spielbergiun Close Encounters/E.T rip off (and nowhere near as good as either of them!)  in style and tone. 

 Spielberg produced it so I wouldn't call it a rip-off.  It was much more of a collaboration\homage.  One which I welcomed and enjoyed.

TFA will do well just to  stand out from such a saturated crowd.

We'll all have the answer in just two months.

TV's Frink said:

Sentence cleanup on Aisle 3!

 I nearly did a spit-take.  ;-)

danny_boy said:

But you are entitled to your opinion...

 Thank you. I'll keep that in mind.

I won't address every bit of your response because I'm trying not to take us too far off-topic.  However, I do want to address the Star Trek film references.  I should have been more clear in explaining when I think the franchise veered off course.

I have no issue at all with any of the TOS films and I like and own a few of the TNG films.  However, when I was sitting in the theater and saw this scene;  https://youtu.be/NKFMWhxJask   I very nearly walked out.  For the Star Trek franchise, this scene was my 3PO telling campfire stories to plush toys moment.  It's when I knew it was time to part ways.

I didn't bother with Nemesis when it was released.  I saw a bit of it on cable about a year ago.  Like Insurrection, it looked and felt like a 1990s TV show.

For me, Star Trek2009 was a welcome return to characters and story. I haven't seen Cloverfield beyond a few minutes, nor have I seen MI3. Shaky-cam is a guaranteed no thanks in my world.  I don't chase the story around the screen trying to figure it out. I won't work or struggle to watch a film.

Abrams received an enormous amount of grief over the flares in Trek2009.  I suspect they'll be all but absent in TFA.  He understands what the fans want and the original atmosphere of the 1977 film.

Bingowings said:

Ridley Scott is still a strong visual director but he allowed himself to be associated with a script mangled to death by Lindelof.

I like Super8 and Cloverfield but his first Star Trek is as bad/good as any TNG movie and the second one is truly painful in places. He didn't write the screenplay but he allowed himself to be closely associated with it. He is allowing himself to be closely associated with TFA.

See... unpumpable :-D

I still want to be wrong.

 I would agree with all that.  There are parts of Into Darkness where I sort of glazed-over out of disinterest.  I'd still take it over the last two TNGs any day.

I think you'll be wrong.  But in a good way.  ;-)

I'm surprised at the doubt some fans are expressing, particularly around here. The very reason so many prequel & SE fans are pre-judging it (non-Lucas film) is the very reason I would assume people here would be optimistic.

I've never made any secret of the fact that I own, like, and on occasion watch only the 1977 original Star Wars.  I all but abandoned the franchise thirty years ago, EU excepted. Even then, that was only after several people here made me give some of it a read (thank you again, by the way). 

However, everything that caused me to abandon ship all those years ago has now been eliminated. With the restored franchise we now have a director with a proven track record of quality films. In just over 20 years, Abrams has an impressive record of success and recognition in film and TV, both critical and commercial.

He has successfully handled the restoration of another culturally significant franchise which had long since lost its way (Star Trek).  He also very clearly understands the type of story, character, and tone of film that connected with audiences in the late 70s\early 80s, as well as how to continue it (Super 8).

His casting choices have also been amazing.  If you can successfully recast Kirk, Spock, & McCoy, you can recast anyone.  He's obviously a fan of Star Wars and from what we've seen so far it shows in his aesthetic, his set design, and his pacing (or sometimes lack of it, which is equally important).

To add a cherry on top, Kasdan is the screen writer.  The very person who gave us what many people consider to be the best film of the franchise, not to mention the third Star Wars film and Raiders Of The Lost Ark. Second cherry; they've gone back to the original McQuarrie art to guide the visual design.

There are plenty of people saying things like "I learned my lesson in 1999. I was tremendously let down with Phantom".  How could you not have been?  Nothing had changed since Return other than Lucas having removed anyone who didn't parrot his every thought.  We'd seen how Lucas had tampered with the originals, and we'd witnessed him continually lying about the franchise while attempting to revise history.

Here we are 15 years later and all that made Phantom terrible has been removed and a great deal of what spoke to us 30 years ago has been returned.  Not the least of which is the original cast, who have nothing but praise for all this is turning out to be. 

If you have Harrison Ford fully engaged and complimentary, arguably one of the most outspoken critics of the original trilogy and director, you've no doubt moved the franchise back to solid ground.

For me, a fan who jumped ship a long time ago, what I've seen the past year is light years better than anything post-Empire.

For the record;  He only works in Rogue One.  Completely unnecessary in the ST.

DominicCobb said:

Adding one of the worst received parts of a poorly received set of films to a fresh new (presumably) well received set of films is not going to help at all. 

 I think that's why it's a long shot at best.  If they are considering it, no doubt it will be studied and focus-grouped extensively.  Just planting a completely unsubstantiated rumor could very well be their initial test to see what the climate is with regard to showing him in the restored franchise.

For the record;  I've never seen him in anything, so I can't really speak to his chops.  However, through the years I've seen a few clips of his work in the Star Wars films and a few other films.

He seems believable in the films where he's under the leadership of a talented director and well-written story. I would hope his one-dimensional work under Lucas wouldn't deter Disney from giving him the nod. If anything, having him in the Rogue One anthology may work in gaining some credibility to his portraying Vader.

The Magician's Apprentice.  Quick thoughts, no spoilers or discussion until most have seen it.

It was the dog's unmentionables! Loved the episode. Already better than all of last season. Capaldi absolutely owns the character now.

Fantastic!  Both are great examples and exactly what I was looking for.  Thanks again for the help.  Great job on your wife's store (I watched her TV segment). 

---------------------------------------

*edit*

  I had wives store.  I think that's an entirely different kind of business.  ;-)

Did you start with the free and migrate later to paid or did you go paid to start?

Thanks, man.  WP seems more the way I want to go.  I like the ownership aspect.  I'm a bit worn down on Google running the world.  Similar to Apple and their control obsession - you'll use these cables, you'll use this cloud, you'll update to this version now, etc. 

I'd rather pay to host and have some say over my own content.

I would imagine we have more than a few bloggers here.  If you have reservations about outing your real-world self, that's not my interest here.  I'm only looking for software\hosting preferences.

The biggest two look to be Blogger and WordPress, or at least it seems that way as a surfer.  I've looked at both, but not seriously enough to start a blog.  Other than Google-hosted v owned, does anyone have strong opinions one way or the other?  If you prefer or use something other than the two, by all means, jump in.

FFS, how many times do you people have to be asked?  

Chewie as The Fonz is awesome! 

The rest of the clip explains all that is wrong with the franchise post-1980. 

At 4:00 AM my tolerance drops considerably.  For the knock off the BS impaired, move back in this direction;

When did you realize the Prequels sucked?

ZkinandBonez said:

Anchorhead said:

ZkinandBonez said:

Some interesting tidbits here about the TFA supportive characters;
http://www.starwars7news.com/2015/09/new-official-databank-entries-for-characters-and-places-from-star-wars-the-force-awakens.html

It doesn't give much important new info however; except that the "Unkar's thugs" previously mentioned works for a junk dealer called Unkar Plutt, and that the Kanjiklub gang lead by Tasu Leech is apparently an "intergalactic criminal organization."

 This seems different than the trailers have led us to believe:

"BB-8 is the spherical, loyal Astromech Droid of the Resistance pilot Poe Dameron."

That's hardly news though?
We've know for quite a while now that Rey buys BB-8 on Jakku from another scavenger (called Leedo), and that Poe owned it first.
I can't remember if they mention this in an interview or a panel or something like that, but the lego set that was revealed some time ago definitively revealed that BB-8 belonged to Poe. 

 Sorry. That's just me not paying attention to panels and toys.  I do watch the panel videos, but not all and not closely (obviously).  

ZkinandBonez said:

Some interesting tidbits here about the TFA supportive characters;
http://www.starwars7news.com/2015/09/new-official-databank-entries-for-characters-and-places-from-star-wars-the-force-awakens.html

It doesn't give much important new info however; except that the "Unkar's thugs" previously mentioned works for a junk dealer called Unkar Plutt, and that the Kanjiklub gang lead by Tasu Leech is apparently an "intergalactic criminal organization."

 This seems different than the trailers have led us to believe:

"BB-8 is the spherical, loyal Astromech Droid of the Resistance pilot Poe Dameron."

swagmasta69 said:

TV's Frink said:

swagmasta69 said:

TV's Frink said:

swagmasta69 said:

TV's Frink said:

swagmasta69 said:

TV's Frink said:

swagmasta69 said:

TV's Frink said: Words fail us.

 Apparently not :^)

 Never heard that one before!

 Then you should get out more.

 Never heard that one either!

 Hearing doesn't seem to be your strong suit, friend.

 We can't tell if comprehension isn't your strong suit, or if humor isn't your strong suit.

Probably both.

Team Olie

 He said, a day later.

 Obviously you're not a golfer.

 What's that got to do with anything?

 The same could be asked of the last couple of pages of this conversation.

Tobar said:

No one else did actual painted posters but they all got photoshoped teasers:

I could just as easily used this as my example for when I knew the prequels were terrible.  I thought that was an idiotic poster as soon as it was released.

A textbook example of Lucas and his complete lack of subtlety. All mystery of story has been removed and the whole piece suffers because of it. Teasers should be simple, but even that one was overdone.

I could never reconcile where the kid was coming from.  Unless his name is little Annie Stubblebine, he has no reason to be mid-stride a foot away from that wall. However, Lucas needed a wall for the shadow of Vader (leave your imaginations at the door) so just Photoshop him next to a wall.

Light sources for the shadows from the doorway, kid's head, kid's feet, and Vader all different?  Must be those twin suns.

Terrible.

Fortunately, Lucas sold the franchise before he could explain Ben's name.  You know, because Lucas is so clever with regard to names e.g., Sidious, Tyranus, Grievous.

Left to Lucas we may have eventually learned Ben's real name was Count Infectious, or Lord Contagious, or maybe Senator Atrocious.

Warbler said:

Warbler said:

So who do you think it is that Maisie Williams is playing?

 

 If you're asking if I think she's either Jenny or Susan, I doubt it.  I don't think either would speak to him the way she does in the trailer.

If I had to guess, possibly another time lord. We get a glimpse of her in what may be different time periods and in two somewhat different roles. 

The Doctor appears to recognize her but not necessarily in a good way.  He would be happy to see Susan or Jenny, not taken aback.

I should mention that Maisie is the only reason I still bother with Game Of Thrones, so to have her cross into a series I really do love is a huge deal for me. I'm really looking forward to her two episodes.  Fingers crossed it becomes more.

ATMachine said:

Yeah, namely creating that clone, "Luuke Skywalker." Personally, I always found those extra Us in the clone names in the Thrawn series reather silly.

I was trying to be subtle without spoiling it for anyone who may not have read the series, but may still be thinking about it. 

Ronster said:

I am leaning toward it being found in depths of cloud city... Is that from the Thrawn trilogy?

 Yes, but it was uused for something else.